Computer networks support increasing numbers of services and endpoints. As a result, networks have increasing numbers of nodes. An increase in the number of nodes in a network results in an increased number of path computations to determine how data should be routed between the nodes. The path computations may be constrained based on quality of service, policy, or price.
The performance of a constrained shortest path computation algorithm used in routers or software defined networking (SDN) controllers has a critical impact on the performance of the routers or controllers. This performance impact affects the scalability and performance of the network. For SDN controllers, the impact is particularly significant since all the constrained path computations are typically done at a single SDN controller.